Quiet Deception
by Thorn In Your Side
Summary: Naruto loves Sakura, yes, and she is his wife, yes, but what happens behind the Uzumaki’s back when he leaves—so frequently—for missions? NaruSaku, SakuKarin.


**Quiet Deception**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!  
A/N: The poem is called 'A Certain Lady' and is by Dorothy Parker, who is my absolute favorite poet. **

**Summary: Naruto loves Sakura, yes, and she is his wife, yes, but what happens behind the Uzumaki's back when he leaves—so frequently—for missions? NaruSaku, SakuKarin.**

**x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x**

"Sakura," he murmured into her ear, and pleasurable shudders spread through her body like wildfire. "I love you, Sakura."

"I love you too," she said, not knowing how much harder it would get to say that, not knowing that within months, it would become a lie.

_**Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head,**_

_**And drink your rushing words with eager lips,**_

Was he allowed to be so damn happy all the time? that look he got in his eyes whenever he saw Sakura—like she was the light of his world—that look ought to be banned. _She didn't like him_.

Karin listened. Karin loved. Karin lived. Just by existing, Karin gave Sakura everything she wanted.

She tried to remember back when she'd loved him. But it was all a haze, and ethereal. And meanwhile, he wouldn't stop talking.

"The food, there were twelve types of clam chowder alone, you would've loved the lobster…"

_**And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,**_

_**And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips.**_

She ran her hands all over his bare torso, her lips stopping at certain spots to elicit gasps and moans from him.

"We were in Iwagakure…and Kiba—ah! He did the funniest thing…"

"Tell me more," she smiled, lovingly.

"And then in the forest, Sai had to pee, but a whole bunch of enemy attacked—oh _**yes**_, there, kiss me there—and he stopped in the middle of a battle to…"

_**When you rehearse your list of loves to me,**_

_**Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed.**_

Her laughter was ambrosia to him. Nectar of the gods, music to his ears, and he strove to find more to talk about. The sweetest reward he could imagine was those lips pulling themselves into a wide grin, and pulling tight around his length. He felt so right and safe and _**wanted **_with her.

"Are you sure about the home medic thing? You could be the best kunoichi on the field."

"Naruto," she teased, "Haven't I beaten you up enough without doing it on missions too?"

"Doing it on missions takes on a whole new meaning when you say it like that," he sighed, closing his eyes, and Sakura giggled—oh, how he loved her giggles—before snuggling close to him.

_**And you laugh back, nor can you ever see**_

_**The thousand little deaths my heart has died.**_

"I love you so much Sakura, you should've been there for the time when we…"

She wasn't listening. Well, not all of her, anyway. It seemed like Naruto only ever had so much to say, and only about ten percent of her willpower had to be focused on him to keep him happy. She cringed on the inside when he came home, sweaty and tired and ecstatic to see her.

Karin was never far from her mind. Or from her body, for that matter. She lived just across the hall, and knew exactly when Naruto had left, and she would fly through that door and envelope Sakura in the heady blanket of a hundred kisses. And every time, Sakura would be filled with a sort of dread for when Naruto came back, and looked at her so sweetly.

_**And you believe, so well I know my part,**_

_**That I am gay as morning, light as snow,**_

She was perfect. She was perfect, and she told him it was because of him. Naruto had never been complimented like that before as far as he could remember, and even if there had been better compliments, they weren't from Sakura. He nearly burst with the pride of knowing he made her the perfection that she was, that he'd had a hand in shaping her beauty and her charm.

She always knew how to cheer him up. Should he ever express concern over Sasuke's whereabouts, or Iruka's deteriorating health, she was constantly there to soothe him and love him and heal him.

She was perfection.

_**And all the straining things within my heart**_

_**You'll never know.**_

God, why couldn't he leave her be? Sakura wanted to fling herself on a dagger and perish for even thinking the thought, but it was so hard—why didn't she love him anymore? Why did she seek solace in the arms of Karin, Karin with her wild temper, Karin with her rash tongue, Karin with her volatile moods?

It was because Karin was what she had been, before becoming the Uzumaki Wife.

Not that Sakura would ever admit that. She told herself she loved Karin for who she was, not because she was a testimony to what Sakura could have been if marriage hadn't tied her down. Single, sassy, successful, and above all, happy.

She reminded herself that being involved with a married woman was hardly the way to happiness, but who gave a fuck when Karin's touch could light her skin on fire like that?

_**Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet,**_

_**And you bring tales of fresh adventuring,—**_

_**Of ladies delicately indiscreet,**_

_**Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things.**_

"And when I told them I was from Konohagakure, and first in line to be Hokage after the old hag dies, you should've seen their faces!"

"I should've," she chuckled.

"And these women kept moving in on me, but I gave them such a glare—Sasuke would've been proud—and told them I was married. They must've shat their panties!"

"They must've," she chortled.

"I love you, Sakura."

The ability to reply nearly abandoned her, so she hastily summoned a picture of Karin naked on her bed and pounced her husband with the promise of sex.

_**And you are pleased with me, and strive anew**_

_**To sing me sagas of your late delights.**_

_**Thus do you want me——marveling, gay, and true,**_

_**Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights.**_

The window beckoned to her, and she obeyed its call. She glared at the full moon that sang out to all lovers, urging them to each other's sides. Her lover was right across the hall, and her husband was in her bed. What's a girl to _**do?**_

The dull ache that had been growing every day in her returned stronger than ever, and pushed at her heart. She had the nicest mate a woman could ask for—caring, funny, sexy, smart—and all she wanted was the crass lowlife Karin.

Life loved to screw her over.

_**And when, in search of novelty, you stray,**_

_**Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go ….**_

"Good bye," he said, "I'll try to be back soon,"

"Mmmm," she said, brushing her lips against his, feigning distress. _I hope you never come back. _

He cast a longing look at her before he left, and she duly noted to take a slipper to her head for thinking such a thought.

_**And what goes on, my love, while you're away,**_

_**You'll never know.**_

Karin moved smoothly over her, their skins blending seamlessly together. Sakura spoilt her with kisses, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough until those long, beautiful fingers were in her, pumping her to oblivion. Her toes curled as Karin bit into her neck, and Sakura gasped out those three little words, and this time, for this person, they weren't a falsehood.

"I love you, Karin."

**x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x**

**:blinks: I do NOT know where that came from. **


End file.
